Online critics of the ombudsman system Dr Naomi Creutzfeldt, ESRC Research Fellow, Lecturer in Law at the University of Westminster. Chris Gill, Senior Lecturer at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

OUTLINE Background to the project Our ‘ombudsman watcher’ project next steps

RESEARCH LEADING UP TO THE PROJECT Chris’ research on ombudsmen at QMU http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/downloads/documents/publications/QMU-the-future-of-ombudsman-schemes-final-130722.pdf Naomi’s research on ombudsmen at Oxford: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/trusting-middle-man-impact-and-legitimacy-ombudsmen-europe/project-reports

USERS EXPECTATIONS OF OMBUDSMEN … to help me understand what it’s all about. INTERPRETER ... to hand over my problem. ADVOCATE … to share the responsibility. ALLY … they have the right tools to help me. INSTRUMENT

THE FUTURE OF OMBUDSMAN SCHEMES? … but what do users think? (Gill et al 2013) Research carried out for the Legal Ombudsman seeking to understand the future direction for UK ombudsman schemes. Research involved interviews with policymakers and leading figures in the UK ombudsman community. The findings indicated that the move towards what Seneviratne (2002) has described as the ‘modern purpose’ of ombudsmen – the resolution of complaints by an appropriate means – is set to continue. In terms of the way complaints are handled, interviewees considered that future ombudsman schemes would need to be increasingly informal, quicker, cheaper, and online. In terms of their strategic positioning, interviewees identified a need for ombudsmen in future to integrate their jurisdictions, to focus more on systemic change, to become more influential as policy actors, and to raise their profile. These were seen as important steps in demonstrating the value of their work. A key question identified in this research, however, was about what users of ombudsman schemes wanted. While the move to ever greater informality was often portrayed as a matter of responding to user demand, it was also clear that resource pressures and the need to justify the value of ombudsman schemes to policy makers, were significant drivers of change. Generally, the research identified a clear gap in relation to understanding user perspectives of ombudsman schemes. Would interviews conducted with citizens and users of ombudsman schemes have identified a similar future for ombudsmen to the one suggested in this summary diagram?

NEWS & EVENTS 60% of people ‘very unhappy’ about ombudsman dealings in public body dispute http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2016-01-20-60-people-‘very-unhappy’-about-ombudsman-dealings-public-body-disputes

OUR PROJECT The Ombudsman Watchers: Understanding the Critics of the Ombudsman System Objectives: (1) to understand the concerns, goals and operations of ombudsman watcher groups (and individuals); and (2) to understand how ombudsman schemes are responding to scrutiny from ombudsman watchers.

Participants: Watcher groups (and individuals) Accountability Scotland http://www.accountabilityscotland.org phso the facts http://phsothefacts.com Financial Ombudsman Problems www.financial-ombudsman-problems.co.uk Legal Ombudsman problems http://www.legalombudsman-problems.co.uk/

Participants: Ombudsmen Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman Scottish Public Sector Ombudsman Local Government Ombudsman Ombudsman Services Financial Ombudsman Services

Two knowledge exchange workshops First with watchers Second with ombudsmen

WORKSHOP WITH WATCHERS Through the workshop discussions, we identified four broad themes in terms of ombudsman watchers’ critiques of ombudsman schemes: • Lack of accountability • Procedural and practice issues • Staffing and qualifications • The impact of the system on complainants

Motivations, goals, methods, and responses (1) Participants were motivated to set up their website and pursue campaigning work by a strong sense of injustice usually, but now always, arising from the way their own cases had been dealt with, combined with a desire to help others who had found themselves in a similar situation. Some participants said they saw their role as redressing the imbalance of power between complainants and ombudsman schemes through the provision of information online.

Motivations, goals, methods, and responses (2) One participant noted that his website’s goals were largely around information provision and seeking to enhance the accountability of ombudsman schemes. In terms of the response, which these activities had had, participants did not know but suspected that any impact may have been limited. Some participants did note, however, that some of the changes and developments in ombudsman schemes over time did appear to be addressing issues that they had raised, and could be the result of the pressure they had applied.

WORKSHOP WITH OMBUDSMEN Participants generally agreed that there was a lack of clear themes arising from the criticisms they had been subjected to. Some noted that the members of the groups did not have common aims and that aims could shift constantly, making it very difficult to satisfy the concerns being raised. Individual issues and unrealistic expectations The inevitability of dissatisfaction

How have ombudsmen engaged with their critics? Limited engagement Proactive engagement Alternative approaches What influence have the watchers had on the ombudsmen? Limited influence

CONCLUSION 1. They offer a window into how consumers and citizens who have turned their minds to analyzing the ombudsman institution perceive its potential strengths and weaknesses. 2. The critiques of ombudsman watchers may highlight, as several ombudsman scheme representative suggested, some important ways in which the ombudsman institution is misunderstood by the public.